Friday, November 30, 2012

This morning I came across an interesting new blog or, more accurately, a new blog-to-be. The Junto is the forthcoming group creation of some eighteen "young early Americanists [almost all Ph.D. candidates] dedicated to providing content of general interest to other early Americanists and those interested in early American history, as well as a forum for discussion of relevant historical and academic topics." Their site has been up since mid-October, but its first content will only be launched on December 10th.

I'm very much looking forward to this new blog, as should you. Let's hope that The Junto's understanding of "early America" is a capacious one, in keeping with the recent scholarly trend of breaking the bounds of the Thirteen (Anglo-American) Colonies. I notice that one of these contributors is working on the contest between French, British, and Indigenous peoples in the Ohio Valley, so there's cause for optimism on that front.

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The French Colonial Historical Society / Société d'histoire coloniale française has just launched its new website. Those of you as of yet unacquainted with this association, which has as its aim the promotion of the "scholarly study of all French colonizing activity and in the history of all French colonies", might wish to look into it. The FCHS publishes the refereed journal French Colonial History and holdswonderful annual meetings. The next one will be at Louisbourg on 13-15 June 2013. And word on the streets is that the foodies of the fortress have promised a lavish feast. Be there or be square!

Saturday, November 10, 2012

For the second year in a row, a handful of Québécois militants have launched "Opération Coquelicot bleu", which translates to Operation Blue Poppie. One of their chief aims is to pay hommage to those soldiers "who defended the territory of New France from English invation and who died in combat between 1755 and 1760" (my translation here and below). You will find their manifestos on Vigile.Net here and here.

A note on background may be useful for some readers: November 11th is recognized in Canada and several other Commonwealth countries as Remembrance Day, a memorial day for those who served in the armed forces and died in the line of duty. This observance dates back to the wake of the First World War, and the commemorative emphasis is normally on 20th and early 21st century conflicts. Now, the people behind Opération Coquelicots bleus denounce this as a federalist scheme: "the fédés poison our lives with a ceremony that is tendencious and recuperated for monarchist and militarist ends, and to promote Canadian unity."

Last year's operation. Photo: Vigile.Net.

Opération Coquelicot bleu accordingly aims to honor "à la québécoise" the Québécois who served during the conflicts of the twentieth century, but also to stress that Quebec's rich military heritage has deep roots that originated well before Confederation and the Conquest of 1760. "We do not have the right to begin our History [in 1760] just to satisfy our invaders." They have invited people to gather this November 11th near the National Assembly in Quebec City. Participants are welcome to bring their Quebec flags, as well as natural flowers; blue "poppies" will be distributed. But in case you want to make your own, there's a video on Youtube showing how to make a blue "poppy". I'll blow the punch: spraypaint!

Incidentally, the same militant nationalists have defended Pauline Marois, the premier of Quebec, when she was criticized by many, including the Royal Canadian Legion, for pinning a fleur de lys inside her poppy (see here). Marois' poppy is red, by the way -- which gives you a sense of where these militants lie on the sovereigntist spectrum.

All of this is delightfully excentric. Or frustratingly so? I can't cast aspersions on the desire to draw attention to the fact that the military experience has deep roots in Quebec, or Canada for that matter. One of my early blog posts, as some of you might remember, was a plea along those lines. But surely there are ways and times for doing this without offending the sensibilities of countless people who hold this day and its symbols dear?

Thankfully, others have a more conciliatory perspective. In recent weeks, Mayor Régis Labeaume of Quebec City, for example, has voiced his desire to see the Nouvelles casernes -- barracks built in 1749-1752 and restored in recent years -- welcome an interpretation center which would recount "the adventure of New France and of its conquerors" (my translation and emphasis). Interesting word choice. In any case, Mayor Labeaume hopes to thereby attract the "millions of American Francophiles" to his city (as reported here). Nothing conciliates quite like tourist bucks, I suppose.

I now feel as though it is my historical duty to make and eat a velouté de pissenlit (p. 51), a tourte d’herbe (p. 117), and a morue Sainte-Menehould (p. 149), to name but of few of the recipes that caught my eye. Call it "peer review".